Chapter 29: Did I Scare You?

The delicate beauty, who had kept her long lashes lowered, suddenly lifted her eyes.

In that moment of eye contact, everything around them seemed to fade into the background. The entire world turned black and white, leaving only the two of them.

The strikingly handsome man leaned forward slightly. A faint red lingered beneath his eyes, making him look like a seductive figure straight out of an ancient scroll. His eyes curved slightly, carrying a hint of delight.

“Are you afraid I’ll get hurt? Afraid I’ll die?”

His deep voice echoed beside her ear, his warm breath lingering for a long moment.

His long, narrow, and shadowy eyes held emotions so intense and scorching that they almost engulfed her.

The aura around him was overwhelmingly dominant. As he leaned in closer, the scent of cool, woody fragrance enveloped her entirely, like an avalanche burying everything in its path.

Even his deliberately lowered voice was bewitching, filled with an irresistible allure that made it impossible not to fall into his trap.

“Yaoyao, will you like me, even just a little?”

The two of them stared at each other in silence, neither speaking.

The quiet moment remained undisturbed, but Pei Heng never received an answer.

Instead, he watched as the little fairy he cherished the most turned red, the blush spreading from her cheeks to her ears, and even down to her pale, slender neck. It was like the soft glow of clouds at sunset, tinged with delicate hues.

Jiang Yaoyao felt as if she were being roasted over a fire. Her heart began to beat wildly, completely out of control.

Under the man’s indulgent and lingering gaze, she suddenly lifted her small hands and covered her burning face.

Her voice, soft and sweet like honey, came through the gaps of her fingers, sticky and saccharine:

“Pei Heng, stop asking!”

—

The sun had already risen high in the sky.

Its bright light illuminated the grass, making even the hopping grasshoppers appear distinct and vivid.

As if no demons or monsters could hide under its brilliance.

When the horse trainers and private bodyguards arrived, they saw two figures beneath the tree from a distance.

The slender little beauty was dressed in a white equestrian outfit, her feet in black riding boots. She was obediently sitting on Pei Heng’s jacket.

Beside her, the somber and brooding man skillfully twisted blades of grass between his long fingers, weaving a grasshopper.

He seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood.

At the head of the grasshopper, he left a long grass stem. With a flick of his fingers, the little grasshopper swayed as if it were alive.

A faint smile played at the corners of his lips as he handed the green grasshopper to her, his voice gentle as if coaxing a child.

“Do you like it?”

The little beauty nodded obediently and took it from his hands.

She waved the long grass stem, and against the vast green background, the grasshopper seemed to leap through the air in a graceful arc, almost lifelike.

“Wow! It looks just like a real one!”

Jiang Yaoyao exclaimed in amazement, glancing down at Pei Heng’s riding helmet in her lap. Inside, a real grasshopper was tied up.

She curved her eyes into a smile, placing the two grasshoppers side by side and marveling:

“Pei Heng, how do you even know how to do this?”

The man looked at her with a smile.

His long, straight lashes lowered slightly, hiding the storm of violence and murderous intent beneath them. His voice was very soft, almost dissolving into the air:

“I figured it out on my own when I was a child. The more I practiced, the better I got.”

His tone was so light that if they hadn’t been sitting so close, shoulder to shoulder, Jiang Yaoyao might not have even heard it.

As his deep and magnetic voice slipped into her ears, her slender fingers unconsciously clenched slightly.

Her watery eyes lifted slightly, glancing at the man beside her.

But before she could say anything, the horse trainers and private bodyguards had arrived, surrounding Pei Heng with concern.

Jiang Yaoyao pursed her lips.

She retracted her gaze and looked back at the woven grasshopper in her hands, lively and vivid.

A sudden wave of sadness welled up in her chest.

People are not born evil. Nor are they destined to be villains from the start.

She suddenly wished she could travel back in time to the darkest years of Pei Heng’s life.

Then, she would give him this little woven grasshopper and tell him firmly:

“Pei Heng, don’t be afraid.”

—

The horse had been found.

A deep cut had been inflicted on its neck, causing it to bleed heavily.

By the time they found it, its once silky white fur was soaked in blood, clumped together in a way that was jarring to look at.

The horse trainer who had cared for it burst into tears on the spot.

Emergency personnel immediately stepped in to stop the bleeding and treat the wounds.

The horse trainer, a middle-aged man, wiped his tear-streaked face. His voice was hoarse and choked with emotion, as if his own child had been hurt.

But despite everything, he couldn’t bring himself to blame Mr. Pei.

If Mr. Pei had been hurt, none of them could bear the consequences.

Given the situation, this was already the best possible outcome.

The burly middle-aged man wiped his tears and said in a thick, trembling voice:

“Mr. Pei, we conduct weekly checkups. Its health indicators have always been perfect—no signs of illness. You’ve seen its genetic records; there’s no hereditary disease. The doctors are running tests, but I swear to you, someone tampered with it today. This horse is a good one. Please don’t blame it.”

The handsome yet ominous-looking man sat on the sofa, his long fingers resting on the armrest, tapping it lightly.

He had changed into a deep blue silk shirt with a luxurious sheen. Two buttons were undone at the collar, revealing his elegant collarbones.

In the lavishly decorated European-style room, he looked like a painting.

Yet, his eyes were dark and unreadable.

Though his expression remained indifferent, the oppressive weight of his presence was suffocating.

In the eerie silence, fear seeped into the atmosphere.

“It almost hurt my Yaoyao.”

His cold voice slipped from his thin lips.

The person kneeling before him tensed, their back stiff and rigid.

Like a criminal awaiting execution, anticipating the blade to fall at any moment.

“Sir, the doctors have finished examining Miss Jiang. They’re on their way now.”

The kneeling man held his breath.

He heard the soft click of leather shoes against the wooden floor, followed by Pei Heng’s deep voice, indifferent yet commanding:

“Check all surveillance footage at the stables.”

“Now leave.”

—

As Jiang Yaoyao stepped into the room, her eyes landed on the pale-faced man.

Gu Jinling had arrived earlier than her and was fussing over Pei Heng.

“You got this badly injured?”

“You jumped off a galloping horse? Pei Xiao Heng, do you have a death wish?”

The man sitting on the single-seater sofa looked up at the doorway and, upon seeing the little beauty standing there, pushed Gu Jinling aside.

“Yaoyao.”

Gu Jinling stepped aside and waved at Jiang Yaoyao.

After spending time together, he had come to understand this girl his nephew had fallen for.

“Yaoyao, come here quickly.”

The moment Jiang Yaoyao walked over, Gu Jinling grabbed her sleeve and suddenly placed her hand into Pei Heng’s.

“Yaoyao, Pei Heng risked his life to save you. As an elder, I’ll make the decision—marry him!”

Jiang Yaoyao looked at her hand intertwined with Pei Heng’s, and when she finally processed what the director had said, her face turned bright red.

“Don’t tease her.”

The man sitting on the sofa had delicate and handsome features. He let go of the soft little hand on his own accord.

“My uncle just likes to joke around, Yaoyao. Don’t take it to heart.”

“How did the examination go? Were you hurt anywhere?”

His voice was exceptionally gentle.

So gentle that Jiang Yaoyao couldn’t help but feel guilty.

She silently withdrew her hand, a strange and indescribable feeling rising in her heart.

“I wasn’t hurt anywhere. Mr. Pei, what about you?”

The strikingly handsome man gave her a slight smile. But his face was so pale that even his smile made one feel distressed.

“I got hurt a little, but it’s nothing.”

“That’s what you call a little?”

Gu Jinling exaggerated his expression. “Pei Heng, can you stop acting tough?”

“Oh right, you haven’t applied any medicine yet, have you? I’ll call—”

His shoe was kicked.

Gu Jinling instantly realized something and swallowed back the words “I’ll call the doctor to apply medicine for you.”

He quickly turned his head, sighed dramatically at Jiang Yaoyao, and said,

“I’m afraid of blood. I can’t help him apply the medicine. Yaoyao, can you do it?”

Before Jiang Yaoyao could even agree, she saw the pale Pei Heng reveal a smile so gentle it made one’s heart ache. His voice was warm.

“That wouldn’t be appropriate.”

“After all, I am a man, and Yaoyao, you are a single young lady. It might cause misunderstandings.”

Gu Jinling let out an “Oh” and was about to follow up on Pei Heng’s words when—suddenly—his shoe was kicked again.

Gu Jinling forced a smile.

“What’s the big deal?”

“There’s nothing improper about it. We’re all decent people. It’s just applying some medicine, what’s wrong with that?”

He turned to Jiang Yaoyao, pretending to play the role of someone demanding repayment for a favor.

“Yaoyao, don’t you think so?”

The unsuspecting little beauty nodded obediently, her pretty little face without a hint of doubt. Her voice was clear and sweet.

“Mr. Pei got injured because of me. I should be the one to apply the medicine.”

“Are these the ones?”

Jiang Yaoyao squatted down and read the instructions on the bottles.

Gu Jinling was just about to explain when—his shoe was kicked for the third time.

Gu Jinling looked puzzled and shot Pei Heng a questioning glance.

His usually composed nephew, who had just been lightly smiling a moment ago, slightly raised his chin and glanced toward the doorway.

Are you… telling me to leave?

Gu Jinling gave Pei Heng a shocked look.

Pei Heng nodded and kicked him again.

You can go now.

Gu Jinling: “……”

He gave Jiang Yaoyao a few instructions, then pretended to be in a hurry and rushed out.

As he stepped out the door, he still heard his ever-composed nephew’s gentle, polite voice inside:

“Yaoyao, is this too much trouble for you?”

Standing at the doorway, Gu Jinling patted his forehead.

So scheming. So fake.

Full of tricks.

He had never known that his seemingly cold and unattainable nephew, after developing feelings, would turn out to be this kind of person.

Truly, one cannot judge a book by its cover.

Had he known, he would’ve let Xiao Yu learn from this little rascal!

As his footsteps gradually faded down the hallway, the air inside the room grew quiet.

The spacious room now contained only the two of them.

Pei Heng had already stood up. He was already tall—his 1.8-meter frame and powerful presence made him seem almost two meters tall.

His towering figure nearly engulfed the slender little beauty in front of him.

With his long fingers resting on his shirt buttons, he unbuttoned them one by one with graceful ease.

It was the simplest action.

But for some reason, when Pei Heng did it, it felt… seductive.

Jiang Yaoyao stood in front of him, unsure whether to turn away or continue watching.

Four or five buttons came undone, and as his hands moved downward, his firm chest was faintly revealed.

When the last button was undone, his well-defined abs appeared right before Jiang Yaoyao’s eyes.

His v-line was sculpted to perfection, tracing down to where his Montblanc belt fastened his trousers.

He was wearing a dark, proper, and abstinent suit, yet somehow, in this moment, he didn’t exude a trace of seriousness—only an inexplicable sense of allure…

It was both tempting and sensual.

Jiang Yaoyao’s face grew redder by the second.

Someone like Pei Heng would never deliberately seduce her, of course.

From what the director had just said, he was still seriously injured—a patient, even.

And yet… she was standing here, having such inappropriate thoughts about an injured man?

She was completely shameless, a mind full of filth—

She scolded herself in her heart.

But it didn’t stop the heat from rushing to her face.

Luckily, after taking off his shirt, Pei Heng didn’t do anything else. He casually draped the shirt over the sofa and turned his back toward her.

The little beauty, whose eyes glistened slightly with moisture, blinked slowly.

So Gu Jinling hadn’t been exaggerating.

Pei Heng’s injuries really were serious.

His pale, broad back was covered in dark bruises from multiple impacts. Some areas of scraped skin had started peeling, and the blood that had oozed out had now scabbed over.

Large patches of bruising covered most of his back, and combined with the scattered wounds, it made one’s heart clench just looking at it.

Jiang Yaoyao raised her hand and lightly touched his skin. “Does it hurt?”

The skin beneath her fingertips wasn’t smooth.

Jiang Yaoyao focused her gaze and, upon closer inspection, her fingers couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

These weren’t fresh wounds from today.

The skin beneath the bruises had already changed in color.

If one looked carefully, it was obvious—these were old injuries.

Pei Heng had been hurt long before this.

Someone as strong as him…

Jiang Yaoyao’s eyelids twitched as she suddenly realized something.

She immediately shut her mouth.

A low, soothing voice broke the silence, tinged with reassurance.

“It doesn’t hurt. Yaoyao, are you scared? If you are, I can call the doctor.”

“I’m not scared.”

Her slender, slightly cool fingertips lightly touched his scarred back—then quickly pulled away.

“Mr. Pei, can you sit down?”

A moment later, fingers holding ointment landed on his back.

At the same time, Pei Heng’s apologetic voice rang out,

“I’m really sorry, Yaoyao.”

“Did the sight of my back… frighten you?”